Blog Assignment #11

Little Kids, Big Potential

In the video, First Graders in Mrs. Cassidy's Class, Mrs. Cassidy uses her students to take us on a tour of her classroom. It was amazing to see all the technology that the first grader's were using. The class was using Skype, Wiki, blogging and even Nintendo DS. This was stuff that I was learning to do in College.

The students in the class gave us tips on how to blog, my favorite tip was that you should never say anything bad or mean about anyone, because it could hurt their feelings. The kids looked so happy and you could see that they were enjoying what they were doing. This video was about how students need to learn technology and why teacher's need to change. When I first started taking EDM 310 I hated this class and couldn't believe that Dr. Strange wanted me to learn all this stuff to be a teacher. Now I know that this class has changed my whole outlook on why I must learn technology. I now want to learn technology and this is amazing for me to say that. Dr. Strange show's with this class how strong he feels about every teacher learning technology, for the future generations.

Skype Interview with Ms. Cassidy

In watching the Skype interview with Mrs. Cassidy that Dr. Strange had set up, I learned a lot of things. Mrs. Cassidy told us her views and why she thought they were so important to use in the classroom. She told use how she had gotten started with just five computers in the class room and that technology was here to stay.

During the interview with Mrs. Cassiey, Dr. Strange asked seversl questions that Mrs. Cassidy commented on. One of them was "Where do you think is a good place to start with technology in a classroom"? I loved her response "Start with what you are interested in the most". I have always been told that if you enjoy doing something, you will do it. This is so important in teaching kids, they need to have fun when learning.

I thought the interview was very helpful and I got a lot of ideas from it. I loved the way that she got the message across that children love to have an audience seeing their work. Mrs. Cassidy also showed that by blogging the students were learning how to be better writer's. I really enjoyed this interview.

Special Blog Assignment

A World Where Grades Will Be Left Behind

Sebastian Thurn is a forty-five year old Vice President of Google, creator of Google's "driverless car" and professor at Stanford University in California. Thurn wants to "revolutionize education" with technology by making learning as fun as playing a video game. Thurn came up with the idea to change education because of the success of his free online course on artificial intelligence, enrolling as many as 160,000 students. I love the idea that Thurn wants to make online classes just as affordable as a cellphone bill. I think this is amazing, especially for low income students.

In reading the article The Next 30 Years, I was amazed at how technology will be viewed in the future. I love what Thurn say's about grades, "the failure of the education system" won't exist. Rather students will take as much or as little time as they need to demonstrate mastery of a particular skill or concept. I think this is so true, because students learn at different pace's. This video was amazing and really got me to thinking about technology in the future.